White House to Vladimir Putin: Extradite Snowden “without delay”

The Obama administration responded Tuesday to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to extradite Edward Snowden by again asking for the expulsion of the National Security Agency leaker “without delay.”

“We agree with President Putin that we do not want this issue to negatively impact our bilateral relations,” said National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden. “While we do not have an extradition treaty with Russia, there is nonetheless a clear legal basis to expel Mr. Snowden, based on the status of his travel documents and the pending charges against him.”

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Obama on Snowden manhunt

The response came hours after Putin said Snowden remains at the Moscow airport and will not be extradited, according to remarks reported by Russia’s state-owned RT television network. Putin said that Snowden has committed no crimes in Russia and is free to travel wherever he likes.

The Obama administration had asked Russia to return Snowden to the United States after the leaker flew to Moscow from Hong Kong over the weekend.

“Snowden is a free person. The sooner he chooses his final destination, the better it is for him and Russia,” Putin said, according to RT. “In any case, I would like not to deal with such issues because it is like shearing a pig: there’s lots of squealing and little fleece.”

Snowden has not been seen publicly since arriving in Moscow Sunday. It is not clear what his next destination will be. Russian news outlets reported that he would take a Monday flight from Moscow to Havana, though the plane departed without Snowden on board.

Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters traveling with him in Saudi Arabia that the Snowden affair should not have a negative impact on U.S.-Russia relations.

“I would simply appeal for calm and reasonableness in a moment where we don’t need to raise the level of confrontation over something as, frankly, basic and normal as this,” Kerry said. “We’re not looking for a confrontation. We’re not ordering anybody. We’re simply requesting, under a very normal procedure, for the transfer of somebody.”

WikiLeaks, which claims to be assisting Snowden, said it is helping him seek asylum in Ecuador, which has housed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at its London embassy for the past year.

Putin’s rebuke comes a day after White House press secretary Jay Carney said he expected Russia would cooperate with U.S. requests for Snowden’s return.

The Obama administration voided Snowden’s passport, but without power to compel his return to the United States can only ask for Russian cooperation.

The White House did not immediately respond to Putin’s announcement Tuesday.

FBI Director Robert Mueller and Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns have been speaking with their Russian counterparts, raising administration hopes that Snowden would be returned to the United States to face charges.

Russia is the second government in a week to defy American requests to arrest and extradite Snowden. The Hong Kong government, in the midst of negotiations with the Obama administration over Snowden’s status, allowed him to leave the Chinese protectorate for Moscow on Sunday, much to the Americans’ consternation.

“The Chinese have emphasized that importance of building mutual trust,” Carney said Monday. “We think that they have dealt that effort a serious setback. If we cannot count on them to honor their legal extradition obligations, then there is a problem.”